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Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Inside Jay Slater's erratic behaviour in final hours from confused phone call to 'poison' fear
The inquest into tragic teen Jay Slater's death in Tenerife has heard details about how volatile he was in the hours before he vanished, if he was carrying knives and his fear over being poisoned Apprentice bricklayer Jay Slater's disappearance in Tenerife last year sparked a huge search for the teenager and hit national headlines. The 19 year old from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, had travelled to the Spanish island to attend the NRG music festival but vanished after separating from his friends and travelling to an apartment with two men they had met while on holiday. His body was finally found almost a month later near the remote village of Masca and an inquest today concluded that he died an accidental death after falling in a rocky ravine and suffering a brain trauma and skull fracture. The inquest, which began in May but was adjourned to trace key witnesses, also heard details about his behaviour in the final hours of his life, including the erratic phonecalls he made to friends and his wild social media posts. Here we take a look at Jay's last movements and messages, as heard at the inquest. Friend was "fuming" Jay's friend Lucy Law, who had known the teen for around six or seven years, travelled to the island with him, Brandon Hodgson and Bradley Hargreaves. On the first day of the second hearing at Preston Coroner's Court she gave evidence via video link "because of the condition that she is in". She revealed what happened on Sunday, June 16 - their last night out together before he went missing the following morning. She said she and Brandon watched the England football match at a bar called Veronica's and were joined by Jay and Bradley for only around 20 minutes before they then left. The group met up again at around midnight when they headed back out to the festival. When asked how drunk Jay was, Lucy told the court: "He was visibly intoxicated but I wouldn't say he was in a state or anything, he wasn't mangled." Jay went off to the toilet but didn't come back, she said, so they all split up to try and find him but their phones were low on battery and he wasn't answering his. "We left to see if we could find him outside. We had a look on The Strip. At this point I thought he's probably made mates with someone or has found a girl and ventured off," she told the inquest. She also said it wasn't unusual for him to do this as he was a "social butterfly". Jay then messaged to say he was in a club called Oasis but they couldn't find him there. He messaged again to say he was in another called Sugar Reef, but again they couldn't find him there. Lucy left Jay a voicemail which said: "Where are you and what are you doing? I am coming down to get you. If you're not there this time I will be f****** fuming." When she eventually found him he reportedly said he didn't want to go home. "I said we'd all been worried about him but he just found the situation funny. Me and Brandon want you to go home and he said 'there's no way I'm going home'. "I asked him to wait there and went back up to get Brandon and Brad. Me and Brandon got in a taxi, Brad walked down to meet Jay. I went home from there so I don't know what happened after that." "On a mission" Lucy also told the inquest that in one message she received from Jay that night he said that he was "on a mission". After being introduced to convicted drug dealer Ayub Qassim and Steven 'Rocky' Roccas by Brandon a few days before, Jay reportedly asked if he could stay at their rented Airbnb which was about 40 minutes from the festival because everyone else had gone home. At the first hearing in May, neither man could be traced but Ayub yesterday gave evidence at the inquest from a foreign country. He described Jay as: "On a buzz. Chilled, happy. Mingling innit." After Jay asked to go back to their apartment, he told the hearing: "I did say, 'Bro, oh mate, it's so far away from the strip. There's nothing happening there other than scenery'. I said I would drop him off in the morning. He rolled with us." Ayub claims that back at the holiday rental, Jay asked for a phone charger so he told him to get Rocky's from his room. He then started charging his phone in the kitchen and Ayub said he got him a blanket and a towel for the morning. Of their final conversation, he said: "He asked for a fag and I left my deck downstairs. I said goodnight and went upstairs." Brad also attended the inquest and told the court that Jay had video called him while he was inside the Airbnb. "He showed me the bed they had made for him," he said. The 'stolen Rolex' mystery While on the drive to the Airbnb, Jay posted a message to friends, including Brad, on social media, saying: "Just took a 12k Rolly (Rolex) off some c*** with this Maili (Somalian) kid. Off to get 10 quid (thousand) for it. Off my undies ha, ha, ha." Brad said Jay had told him in a Snapchat message that he was going up to Ayub and Rocky's house "to sell a watch". Brad was asked about the watch and why he didn't ask Jay more about it. "Because I was under the influence of drugs," he said. Adding: "I didn't think anything of it because there are a lot of people selling fake stuff on the strip. Loads of watches," he said. Brandon couldn't be located in order to give evidence to the inquest and Brad claimed that he knew a lot more about it "than just the Snapchat". Coroner Dr Adeley asked Ayub if he was involved in taking a watch. He replied: "No. And neither was he [Jay}". The coroner then asked the witness about messages Jay had sent about a watch possibly being stolen. Ayub said while still on the strip before leaving for their apartment he saw what he described as a Romanian "lucky-lucky" man take a watch from another person before trying to sell it to him and Jay. He added: "Jay did not steal no watch. I can say one hundred per cent." Asked to explain the social media post by Jay, the witness said: "He could be boasting to his friends. He's on a buzz, so maybe it could be that. Sometimes people do exaggerate." The coroner continued: "But so far as you are concerned, none of that is true?" Ayub replied: "No. One hundred per cent. I didn't see a watch. At this point he's just firing off messages." Today the coroner referred to the various Snapchat messages in which Jay claimed to have stolen a watch. He pointed out that the brand of the watch was different in each message and Ayub's evidence that "people often 'boosted' themselves up in messages". "I consider that the watch is irrelevant to subsequent events," he said. Was Jay carrying knives? At the inquest in May one of Jay's friends said the teen sent him a photo of himself with 'knives down his trousers' shortly before his death. Witness Josh Forshaw met Jay and his pals as they queued to board the plane from Manchester to Tenerife. Josh later shared contact details with Jay and met the group at the music festival. Josh said that Jay "seemed dead happy" and that he was "off his head on drugs". Josh told proceedings Jay had sent him a photo of himself with "knives down his trousers". He said the image had been captioned: "In case it kicks off". The witness added he did not inform Spanish police about the picture but after he returned home to the UK, he informed Lancashire Police about it. On Thursday Brad was asked about speculation that Jay had hidden two knives down his shorts. He said he knew nothing about it. The coroner asked: "You have known Jay a long time, would him arming himself with two kitchen knives down his trousers be unusual?" Brad replied "yes" it would be unusual. Brad also said that nothing made him believe that Jay was distressed, feeling scared, worried or frightened. Jay's last calls and fears over 'poisoning' Previously, Detective Williams-Thomas said in a podcast: "Jay was still buzzing at 6am from the alcohol and drugs but his friends wanted to go home, so when Qassim told Jay that he could go back to theirs and continue partying he jumped at the chance." He added that at 2.35am, Jay sent a cryptic text to a friend, saying: "They've got a marker on me." His friend replied to the text at 3am, saying: "You need to go home lad you're off your barnet." Jay then replied by writing: "You think I'm going home you must be disabled." At this stage, the investigator said, Jay "was very heavily under the influence of drink and drugs." According to Mr Williams-Thomas, it is possible that "some paranoia" was present "because his friends were saying he was not making much sense and being argumentative which was very unlike Jay." Phone location data suggested Jay left Ayub and Rocky's apartment at around 7.45am on June 17. Statements from local Spanish witnesses said they were approached and asked by him about buses or taxis to take him home. Jay called Brad on Snapchat as he was "walking down a road" and told his friend: "I'm gonna come back." Brad told the inquest: "At that point I might have been feeling a bit worried. He said 'I'm gonna come back down' and he was asking if we had any drinks left at the apartment." Brad told Jay to "put maps on" while on the Snapchat call to see how far away from the Paloma Beach apartment he was. He told the court: "He said '14 hours walk or an hour's drive'. I said 'wow, why are you so far away, get a taxi back'. He then said 'I'll ring you back' and that was the last time I spoke to Jay." The inquest also heard a statement Brandon gave to Spanish police via a video call following Jay's disappearance. Brandon told police that Jay called him when he was trying to walk home after leaving the Airbnb. The call was made at around 8.30am and it was a video call. Jay told Brandon he was in the middle of nowhere and showed him where he was. He said he wasn't on a road and couldn't see anywhere nearby. However he said Jay "didn't seem frightened" despite being on his own and was "laughing and joking". Brandon added that he thought Jay was "out of his mind". Lucy was the last person to speak to Jay Slater. Brandon had called Lucy that morning and told her that Jay was up in the mountains, which she thought was a joke at first. She realised it was serious and called Jay several times at around 8.50am in which she asked him if he knew where he was. Jay said that his mouth was dry and he needed a drink and was frightened. His phone was on 2% at this point. He also made a frantic call to Lucy saying: "I'm in the middle of nowhere... there is literally nothing but mountains." Lucy told the hearing she "started panicking" after receiving the call. She said Jay asked her if cactuses were poisonous, and she replied: "A cactus is the least of your problems, go back to where you have just come from." During the call Jay told her: "I can't go back there", but she said she didn't feel anything bad had happened, saying: "I also feel like, if something had gone on in terms of conflict, I feel like he probably would have said." The hearing in May heard from witnesses including toxicology expert Dr Stephanie Martin. The court heard that analysis showed traces of drugs - including cocaine, ketamine and ecstasy - and alcohol in Jay's body. Home Office pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd said his post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as head injuries and Mr Slater's body showed no evidence of restraint or assault, with the pattern of injuries consistent with a fall from height. Detective Chief Inspector Rachel Higson, from Lancashire Constabulary, said police had analysed Mr Slater's phone data. On the night out he had received phone messages from friends telling him to go home as he was "off his head". More messages from friends warned him about the "boiling" heat of the day but activity data on his phone stopped at 8.51am, suggesting the battery had died.
Daily Mirror
6 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Jay Slater's pal sent 'fuming' voicemail before death as erratic final hours become clear
Jay Slater's friend Lucy Law has told an inquest exactly what happened before her friend vanished, as she reveals the 'fuming' voicemail she left him on their night out One of the last people to see Jay Slater alive left him a "fuming" voicemail before he vanished on holiday in Tenerife, an inquest heard. The 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer was partying at NRG music festival with friends at the Papagayo nightclub in the resort of Playa de las Americas before he ended up at a holiday rental apartment in the early hours of June 17 last summer. Evidence suggests he left the flat hours later, attempted the long walk back to his own apartment and tragically fell into a ravine. At the inquest into his death on Thursday, Jay's pal Lucy Law, who had known the teen for around six or seven years, walked through the timeline of Jay's last night out on Sunday, June 16. Jay Slater's drug dealer pal finally reveals bombshell truth about 'stolen' £12,000 Rolex Jay Slater UPDATES: Bombshell witness who 'vanished in Spain' arrives at inquest She and pal Brandon Hodgson had gone to a bar called Veronica's to watch the England match. Jay and another friend, Bradley Hargreaves, joined them for around 20 minutes and then left. The group met up again later on at around midnight. When asked how drunk Jay was, Lucy told the court: "He was visibly intoxicated but I wouldn't say he was in a state or anything, he wasn't mangled." Lucy said the group then headed back out to the festival. She told the inquest that Jay said he was going to the toilet, however he was taking a long time. When he didn't return after a while, Lucy said she went to find him. "We all split up to try and find him in the place but then none of us could find him in there so at this point our phones were nearly dead and he was still not answering his phone," she said. "We left to see if we could find him outside. We had a look on The Strip. At this point I thought he's probably made mates with someone or has found a girl and ventured off." She told the inquest that Jay was a "social butterfly" and it would not be unusual for him to go off and make friends. Lucy continued: "Then he messaged us and said 'I'm in Oasis'. We couldn't see him. Then he messaged saying he was in Sugar Reef which is two or three clubs up. But we couldn't see him there either." After not being able to find him, Lucy left Jay a voicemail which said: "Where are you and what are you doing? I am coming down to get you. If you're not there this time I will be f****** fuming." Lucy eventually found Jay, but he reportedly told her that he wasn't ready to head home yet. She told the inquest: "I said we'd all been worried about him but he just found the situation funny. Me and Brandon want you to go home and he said 'there's no way I'm going home'. "I asked him to wait there and went back up to get Brandon and Brad. Me and Brandon got in a taxi, Brad walked down to meet Jay. I went home from there so I don't know what happened after that." Lucy's evidence comes as Jay's other friend, convicted drug dealer Ayub Qassim, told the inquest that he offered the tragic teen a place to stay at his flat in Masca, approximately 40 minutes away from the strip where the group had been partying. Jay asked Quassim if he could stay with him at his place, because everyone else had left. When they eventually got back to the Airbnb, Jay reportedly asked Quassim for a phone charger. The pal told the inquest: "He asked for a charger. I said go and get it in Rocky's room. He has gone in there and grabbed the charger from the side of his bed and stuck it in the kitchen. "He started charging it in the kitchen. I ran upstairs and grabbed him a blanket. I went past the bathroom and grabbed him a towel as well. I said 'that's you innit'. Of their final conversation, Quassim said: "He asked for a fag and I left my deck downstairs. I said goodnight and went upstairs." Just hours later, Jay is said to have left the property to start walking home, but he never made it back. The teen was reported missing and after a search that lasted several weeks, his body was tragically discovered in a remote ravine. A huge search operation was launched before his body was found in a steep and inaccessible area by a mountain rescue team from the Spanish Civil Guard near the village of Masca on July 15. A number of witnesses who were with him on the night he disappeared or at the rental apartment did not attend the inquest when it first started at Preston Coroner's Court in May. The court heard they could not be traced or were unavailable, despite extensive efforts to get them to come as witnesses. Debbie Duncan, Mr Slater's mother, tearfully asked the coroner to adjourn at the time as the family still had questions for the last people to see him alive. Jay's friend Lucy was the first to sound the alarm when Jay vanished. The pair were mates prior to the getaway and both hail from Lancashire. In the immediate aftermath of his disappearance, she spearheaded initial search operations and provided support to the teenager's relatives upon their arrival. She was absent from the initial inquest into his death, with her family explaining she was overseas and unaware the hearing was scheduled. Meanwhile, another pal, Bradley, gave evidence at today's hearing in person after missing the inquest when it started. He also made the journey from Lancashire to Tenerife with Jay. He possessed knowledge of Jay's final whereabouts after receiving the location from the lad himself. The hearing in May heard from witnesses including toxicology expert Dr Stephanie Martin. The court heard that analysis showed traces of drugs – including cocaine, ketamine and ecstasy – and alcohol in Mr Slater's body. Home Office pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd said his post-mortem examination gave cause of death as head injuries and Mr Slater's body showed no evidence of restraint or assault, with the pattern of injuries consistent with a fall from height. Detective Chief Inspector Rachel Higson, from Lancashire Constabulary, said police had analysed Mr Slater's phone data. On the night out he had received phone messages from friends telling him to go home as he was "off his head". Phone location data suggested he travelled to the holiday flat then left the property at around 7.45am the next day. Statements from local Spanish witnesses said they were approached and asked by Mr Slater about buses or taxis to take him home. More messages from friends warned him about the "boiling" heat of the day but activity data on his phone stopped at 8.51am, suggesting the battery had died. Marieke Krans from Dutch rescue charity Signi Zoekhonden helped in the search. She said the area where the body was found was about a three and a half-hour walk from the holiday apartment and was "really steep, really dangerous", and it was "easy" to lose your footing. The coroner told the hearing that one explanation for Mr Slater's death could be "he has walked into the middle of nowhere and fallen off a cliff". The inquest is scheduled to conclude on Friday.
Mint
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
Dumplings get fun makeovers with innovative flavours
Chef Sameer Taneja's earliest memories of growing up in a small village called Bairava in Nepal, is devouring steaming hot momos on the streets. 'In fact, such was my obsession that I would gobble up sixteen of them at one go when I was only 5-years- old," remembers the executive chef of the Michelin-starred London restaurant Benares. Taneja continues his love affair with momos creating gourmet versions with truffle and even foie gras. Be it momos, wontons or dim sums, these steamed delights are undergoing a thrilling transformation in the urban foodscape. Chefs are reinventing the all-time classic by incorporating unexpected ingredients and flavours, and presenting them with contemporary flair. At Veronica's, a sandwich shop and café owned by Hunger Inc. Hospitality, executive chef Hussain Shahzad wraps up the favourite breakfast items in one delicious bite. Think sausages, eggs, cheese and caramelised onions, all tucked inside a momo. A side of chilli crisp brings a whisper of heat, while a dusting of parmesan lends that unmistakable sharpness. Meanwhile at Avatara, the vegetarian fine dining Indian restaurant, head chef Sanket Joshi offers a contemporary style of dim sum with modak-shaped parcels filled with artichoke on a kokum-kissed Malwani curry. A dehydrated okra stuffed with thecha adds texture and extra oomph. Also read: Samosa tartlets and chikoo ice-cream at this British-Indian pop-up What makes dim sums a hotbed of creativity for chefs? 'They are the perfect vessel for flavour. A dumpling is small. So, every element needs to be delivered in one mouthful. That's a creative challenge I love. Plus, dumplings are universal. Every culture has its version, and that makes them such a fun playground to reimagine," explains Shahzad. Sara Jacob Nair, the executive chef and co-founder of Nair on Fire, a cloud kitchen offering homestyle Kerala cuisine in Mumbai, says, 'I believe ada (flat rice flour packets stuffed with coconut and jaggery) and koi katta, our Malayali version of the Maharashtrian modak, could be the earliest forms of dumplings in our culture. My mom would use the leftover rice batter from these items to smartly wrap up leftover beef, fish or vegetable, steam it and present it to us as a snack when we returned from school in the evening. But it never had the finesse of the dumpling we eat today," remembers Nair, who makes a similar dumpling with pork or prawns cooked in Kerala style. 'Our filling is spicy, and doesn't need a chutney or sauce on the side. I have also cracked the code of making the rice casing really thin so the dumpling actually melts in the mouth," she adds. Innovating on the classic dim sum takes a mix of science and art, a combination that Taneja has mastered. For the Indian Accent and Benares pop-ups in Delhi and Mumbai recently, the chef presented gyoza filled with prawn and foie gras in a bold bone marrow curry. Think gyozas bathing in nihari. 'I spent my early childhood in a small village in Nepal, where monks were a familiar sight, and nearly every restaurant served momos. I grew up eating them, and now they're a favourite with my kids too," says Taneja, adding since he is fond of nihari, he wanted to combine it with momos. He created a nihari using prawn shells, and stuffed the momo with prawns and foie gras, since the former does not have fat. The foie gras gave it fattiness, he informs. He also used herb oil for another layer of fat. 'A great momo is all about the perfect balance between protein and pastry. It's the fat in the momo that makes all the difference." How about a smoky flavour in a dim sum? That's something chef-partner Vardaan Marwah has nailed at Farro, a new eatery in Pune's Koregaon Park. The buff manti here (Turkish dumplings) is cooked over charcoal, similar to the Bihari litti, and sent out with a garlic toum, and a broth inspired by rasam. The perfectly-charred dumplings with a filling of juicy buff hold up beautifully against the bold broth. But behind the perfect dumplings are a series of failed attempts. 'It started as a ravioli, before moving closer to Turkish manti. The idea clicked when we unexpectedly paired it with a rasam that my sous chef had made. It brought the dish alive. From there, we refined it to what it is today," explains Marwah. Unexpected fillings are also finding their way into dumplings. At Pune's 3 Spices restaurant at DoubleTree By Hilton Hotel, chef Rakesh Jadhav fills dumplings with drumstick flowers, lentils and coconut and serves them alongside an asparagus chutney. He also experiments with a sweet and sour wood apple filling. 'I see what's around and ask, 'can this go inside a dumpling?'" he explains, embracing a no-rules approach to texture and filling. Chef Karishma Sakhrani, the culinary and operations director of Acme Hospitality in Mumbai, takes seared gyozas a step further. She tosses them in a nuoc cham dressing with crisp vegetables and fragrant fried shallots to create a delicious mouthful. Beyond innovative fillings, the dim sum casing itself is being reimagined. While chef Jadhav infuses the dough with spinach, turmeric and even moringa, chef Ananya Banerjee crafts gluten-free versions using sago or sabudana. With so much to offer when it comes to everyone's favourite dumplings, chefs are excited to tease and surprise diners with creative takes, one bite at a time. Also read: Reviving old family recipes for fine dining menus Nivedita Jayaram Pawar is a Mumbai-based food writer
